Re:$30 Toll to Use Express Lanes
by Spooky23 on Friday January 06, 2017 @12:28PM
(#13338191)
The term of art is "public private partnership".
It's a ridiculous notion -- the government has the ability to raise capital far more cheaply than private capital markets, and revenue from toll-roads is one of the most reliable revenue streams that exist. It's not zero-risk, but pretty close.
It's just a scheme to move debt to somebody else's books, and make more money for various parties. It also provides fertile ground to re-direct anger from government operational incompetence or underinvestment, like plowing in such a way that you create miles of gridlock instead of doing things like pre-treating the road surface to avoid plowing during peak travel times.
It's a ridiculous notion -- the government has the ability to raise capital far more cheaply than private capital markets, and revenue from toll-roads is one of the most reliable revenue streams that exist. It's not zero-risk, but pretty close.
It's just a scheme to move debt to somebody else's books, and make more money for various parties. It also provides fertile ground to re-direct anger from government operational incompetence or underinvestment, like plowing in such a way that you create miles of gridlock instead of doing things like pre-treating the road surface to avoid plowing during peak travel times.